RE: Leaving animals/kids in cars - Temp Chart

[pixy0stix]

[EloiseWeenie]

Bettybookworm shared a recent tragedy (her neighbor) with the Oct11 BMB a couple months ago, and since then I think about it every time I get out of my car. Even yesterday I was dropping my son off at gymnastics (we were a couple minutes late) and thought it would be easy to pull up to the front door, then run him in (I could see my car the whole time). I thought about Betty's experience and remembered it is always worth getting my the baby out instead of leaving her. My son can wait that extra minute.

[runforrest]

Holy crap - I had NO idea the internal car temp can increase so quickly - in TEN minutes it can jump from 90 to 109!!?!?!?!

That is so scary. I honestly don't know how a parent could leave their child in the car for any length of time unattended, ever.

[foundmylazybum]

On Oprah on the radio (yes)
I heard a story about a lady who's car was carjacked when she ran into a gas station to get a cold drink for her 6 year old son. The car was running.

She ran out and tried to grab her son back--and he was half way out of the car as this guy drove off--her son was dragged to death.

Not just the heat people.

Proceed to horror.

[runforrest]

Jun 20, 2012 14:55:32 GMT -5 foundmylazybum said:

On Oprah on the radio (yes)
I heard a story about a lady who's car was carjacked when she ran into a gas station to get a cold drink for her 6 year old son. The car was running.

She ran out and tried to grab her son back--and he was half way out of the car as this guy drove off--her son was dragged to death.

Not just the heat people.

Proceed to horror.

Oh my gosh, that is so awful. Ugh.

[eddy]

Jun 20, 2012 14:52:44 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

I hate this time of year. Hate it.

Me too especially with a new baby. With Jack he is so loud I couldn't forget him but with mY sweet baby I am paranoid about this. Blech
I leave my purse right next to Leo's carseat.

[redheadbaker]

S.O., the baby and I went to a local diner for breakfast last weekend. I pull into the "shopping center" which consists of the diner, a movie theater and a liquor store. The diner was the only business open.

Inside the S.U.V. parked opposite me was a chihuahua, standing up on the front dashboard and barking. It was ~75 degrees outside, sitting in direct sunlight, and the vehicle had one window cracked about two inches.

We went inside and debated on whether or not to call Animal Control. If I had seen this chart, I'd have called immediately.

When we left the diner 45 minutes later, the S.U.V. was still there. S.O. checked on the dog, which seemed . . . well, not in immediate danger, but much quieter than it had been. I called Animal Control. If we didn't have a cranky baby with us screaming for naptime, we would've stayed to make sure A.C. showed up.

[ttt]

Jun 20, 2012 15:18:38 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

This is one of the reasons why I hate the Chicago parking meters. In a lot of places, you go to the meter and enter your parking space number and you're done with the deal, but in Chicago, because they're only worried about money, they don't mark the parallel spots individually. They want as many people to pack in there as possible. As a consequence, you have to print out a ticket from the meter to put on your dash. So if you have kids, and you don't get the one spot that is smack in front of the meter, you have to get your kids out of the car, walk to the meter, stand there while it prints the ticket, walk your kids back to the car to put the ticket on the dash, and then walk to your destination.

I guarantee you this will cost a kid his or her life one day. People leave their kids in the car all. the. time. while they're getting the ticket from the meter. Someone is going to forget one or leave their car running and get it stolen. To me this is entirely predictable. Apparently, this has not even occurred to anyone in Chicago because they don't even make an effort to put the meter in the center of the parking area. Sometimes it is literally a block away and if you are parking in a pay lot, it might be 6 or 7 double rows from where you park your car.

Jesus I hate this city.

They have that here too. And in New York. It sucks.

[GailGoldie]

Greg and I have a rule that when one of us drops the kids off we must text the other that they are there. And never get upset I the other calls or texts to make sure they are there if the dropper offer forgets to text.

It isnt a real issue now but when babies for sure but we still do it to be safe.

[Daria Morgandorffer]

Jun 20, 2012 14:52:44 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

I hate this time of year. Hate it.

Ditto. That WaPo article is permanently burned into my brain. I have nightmares about parts of it.

[emmybean]

Jun 20, 2012 15:18:38 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

This is one of the reasons why I hate the Chicago parking meters. In a lot of places, you go to the meter and enter your parking space number and you're done with the deal, but in Chicago, because they're only worried about money, they don't mark the parallel spots individually. They want as many people to pack in there as possible. As a consequence, you have to print out a ticket from the meter to put on your dash. So if you have kids, and you don't get the one spot that is smack in front of the meter, you have to get your kids out of the car, walk to the meter, stand there while it prints the ticket, walk your kids back to the car to put the ticket on the dash, and then walk to your destination.

I guarantee you this will cost a kid his or her life one day. People leave their kids in the car all. the. time. while they're getting the ticket from the meter. Someone is going to forget one or leave their car running and get it stolen. To me this is entirely predictable. Apparently, this has not even occurred to anyone in Chicago because they don't even make an effort to put the meter in the center of the parking area. Sometimes it is literally a block away and if you are parking in a pay lot, it might be 6 or 7 double rows from where you park your car.

Jesus I hate this city.

Lots of cities do this.

[debatethis]

There's an app for that!
itunes.apple.com/il/app/baby-reminder/id468332744?mt=8

[emmybean]

Jun 20, 2012 20:29:06 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Jun 20, 2012 16:38:53 GMT -5 emmybean said:

Lots of cities do this.

And lots of cities don't. It's dangerous. Indianapolis marks spots and then you go to the meter and type in the number of your spot and pay. It's not as lucrative because the city has to partition off spots which means you can't cram as many cars in AND it will inevitably result in time being left on "the meter" that someone else can use so no double payments. But you only have leave your car once, so there's not even the temptation to leave your kids in the car to avoid trucking them back and forth multiple times.

Yeah. I get how it works.




But thanks for taking the time to explain it all a second time.

[MrsAxilla]

Jun 20, 2012 20:29:06 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Jun 20, 2012 16:38:53 GMT -5 emmybean said:

Lots of cities do this.

And lots of cities don't. It's dangerous. Indianapolis marks spots and then you go to the meter and type in the number of your spot and pay. It's not as lucrative because the city has to partition off spots which means you can't cram as many cars in AND it will inevitably result in time being left on "the meter" that someone else can use so no double payments. But you only have leave your car once, so there's not even the temptation to leave your kids in the car to avoid trucking them back and forth multiple times.

Most Denver lots are like this.

[darnkatz]

Every time I see a post like this, it makes me even more thankful that we don't drive. I am a forgetful asshole, and while I truly like to believe that I would never forget my kid in the car, who knows what would happen. I'm 100% certain that the people who have lost children this way would have said the same thing.

This is also a good reminder to check cars when I'm riding around. I call 311 if I see a dog sitting in a vehicle with the windows up (haven't seen any kids, thankfully). It's fucking cruel, especially because people don't forget animals. They deliberately bring them with to leave them in the car.

[Deleted]

I accidently locked my kids in the car once after I had strapped them all into their car seats and they couldn't get out. I'm incredibly thankful, I parked in the shade and it was a 60 degree day. I would have broken one of the windows otherwise. Their pre-school teacher sat with them as another parent drove me home to get my spare key.

[terpsfan]

Jun 20, 2012 16:30:07 GMT -5 Daria Morgandorffer said:

Jun 20, 2012 14:52:44 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

I hate this time of year. Hate it.

Ditto. That WaPo article is permanently burned into my brain. I have nightmares about parts of it.

Me too...the article along with the Oprah show about it has me freakishly paranoid about this and I think about it a lot especially when we have heat waves like we are having today in MD.

[caden]

Jun 20, 2012 14:53:46 GMT -5 runforrest said:

Holy crap - I had NO idea the internal car temp can increase so quickly - in TEN minutes it can jump from 90 to 109!!?!?!?!

That is so scary. I honestly don't know how a parent could leave their child in the car for any length of time unattended, ever.

Wait, you have twins and you still think this? How do(or did if your kids are older now) you get both kids into your house from the car in one trip?

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2012 6:03:58 GMT -5 caden said:

Jun 20, 2012 14:53:46 GMT -5 runforrest said:

Holy crap - I had NO idea the internal car temp can increase so quickly - in TEN minutes it can jump from 90 to 109!!?!?!?!

That is so scary. I honestly don't know how a parent could leave their child in the car for any length of time unattended, ever.

Wait, you have twins and you still think this? How do(or did if your kids are older now) you get both kids into your house from the car in one trip?

I totally get why people do it... Even when I only had 1 I drove 5 miles out of my way to go to the dunkin donuts with a drive thru so I didn't have to park.

[foundmylazybum]

Jun 21, 2012 5:46:57 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

Every time I see a post like this, it makes me even more thankful that we don't drive. I am a forgetful asshole, and while I truly like to believe that I would never forget my kid in the car, who knows what would happen. I'm 100% certain that the people who have lost children this way would have said the same thing.

This is also a good reminder to check cars when I'm riding around. I call 311 if I see a dog sitting in a vehicle with the windows up (haven't seen any kids, thankfully). It's fucking cruel, especially because people don't forget animals. They deliberately bring them with to leave them in the car.

I see this to a point. I think it's kind of...harsh to just think it's "fucking cruel" and that people are "deliberately bringing their pets to leave them in the car."

We have camped with our dog before and we won't leave her at the campsite. When we have gone into town for lunch (or generally this happens at dinner) we try our best to find patio seating but sometimes it doesn't happen. We would 100% rather have our dog with us, and one of us goes back to check on her during the meal.

I guess I find it a bit of a black or white pill that all people who leave their pets in the car are some assholes who just don't care---OR aren't knowledgeable of some of the dangers.
We want our dog to be safe when we travel with her--and she loves camping--LOVES it. Loves hiking, the tent, being with us--but we have to manage some of the other parts too.

[darnkatz]

Jun 21, 2012 7:06:35 GMT -5 foundmylazybum said:

Jun 21, 2012 5:46:57 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

Every time I see a post like this, it makes me even more thankful that we don't drive. I am a forgetful asshole, and while I truly like to believe that I would never forget my kid in the car, who knows what would happen. I'm 100% certain that the people who have lost children this way would have said the same thing.

This is also a good reminder to check cars when I'm riding around. I call 311 if I see a dog sitting in a vehicle with the windows up (haven't seen any kids, thankfully). It's fucking cruel, especially because people don't forget animals. They deliberately bring them with to leave them in the car.

I see this to a point. I think it's kind of...harsh to just think it's "fucking cruel" and that people are "deliberately bringing their pets to leave them in the car."

We have camped with our dog before and we won't leave her at the campsite. When we have gone into town for lunch (or generally this happens at dinner) we try our best to find patio seating but sometimes it doesn't happen. We would 100% rather have our dog with us, and one of us goes back to check on her during the meal.

I guess I find it a bit of a black or white pill that all people who leave their pets in the car are some assholes who just don't care---OR aren't knowledgeable of some of the dangers.
We want our dog to be safe when we travel with her--and she loves camping--LOVES it. Loves hiking, the tent, being with us--but we have to manage some of the other parts too.

I'm sorry. I was specifically referencing people here in the city. I'm also not talking about people who check on their dog, leave water in the car, leave windows cracked, etc There are a lot of people here who just leave their dogs in hot cars while they go out to eat or to the grocery store with windows completely closed and the car off.

[birkbop]

Between the left-in-car stories and pool drownings... I don't know if there is a sadder time of year.

[One Girl In All The World]

Jun 21, 2012 7:18:42 GMT -5 birkbop said:

Between the left-in-car stories and pool drownings... I don't know if there is a sadder time of year.

I used to do registration in an emergency room and I hated this time of year so much because of all the drownings that came in. UGH.

And the hot car thing scares the crap out of me.

[aurora]

The scientist in me wants to scream "it's not that simple!" I mean, the chart needs extra entries for the solar irradiation on a given day (whether there are any clouds and how high the sun is in the sky), whether the car is parked in shade or partial shade, whether it is windy, window tinting and interior color of the car (reflects vs. absorbs the heat)...all of these things matter as to how quickly the car heats up to what temperature.

That said, I am splitting straws and I do agree that kids and pets should not be left in cars on 70+ deg days.

[emmybean]

Jun 21, 2012 9:55:31 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Jun 20, 2012 23:10:19 GMT -5 emmybean said:

Yeah. I get how it works.




But thanks for taking the time to explain it all a second time.

Bitch.

This is the most impressively succinct thing I've ever seen you write. How did you manage to restrain yourself?

[ering1115]

ttt- Do you have the park mobile app? That thing is amazing and you can add time to your spot. It sends you reminders when your "meter" is about to expire. I love it.

sbp- Not sure if they have one for Chicago but I use it all the time to prevent the situation you describe.

[ering1115]

Jun 21, 2012 10:21:29 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Jun 21, 2012 10:05:58 GMT -5 ering1115 said:

ttt- Do you have the park mobile app? That thing is amazing and you can add time to your spot. It sends you reminders when your "meter" is about to expire. I love it.

sbp- Not sure if they have one for Chicago but I use it all the time to prevent the situation you describe.

My phone doesn't do apps. Yep. You read that right.

I kind of thought you had said that before but I wasn't 100% on it. Well, if you ever get a phone that does apps- it is one that makes my kid lugging, city living life easier.

[niemand88f]

Jun 21, 2012 7:13:20 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

Jun 21, 2012 7:06:35 GMT -5 foundmylazybum said:

I'm sorry. I was specifically referencing people here in the city. I'm also not talking about people who check on their dog, leave water in the car, leave windows cracked, etc There are a lot of people here who just leave their dogs in hot cars while they go out to eat or to the grocery store with windows completely closed and the car off.

Even all windows cracked does next to nothing to keep the temperature down, so you should still call 911 on a hot day if there's a dog in the car. This site has a table showing data with windows cracked.

[runforrest]

Jun 21, 2012 6:03:58 GMT -5 caden said:

Jun 20, 2012 14:53:46 GMT -5 runforrest said:

Holy crap - I had NO idea the internal car temp can increase so quickly - in TEN minutes it can jump from 90 to 109!!?!?!?!

That is so scary. I honestly don't know how a parent could leave their child in the car for any length of time unattended, ever.

Wait, you have twins and you still think this? How do(or did if your kids are older now) you get both kids into your house from the car in one trip?

Well, when they were in infant seats, we always had the double snap n' go thingy, so I would pull into the garage, get the snap n' go, put the infant seats in, and push them to the back door (we live in Chicago and have a detached garage).

By the time they outgrew their infant seats, I would just pick one up, put him on my right hip, go to the other side of teh car and get the other one out.

Now I do the same except I hold onto the one's hand while I'm getting the other one out.

Otherwise, I go out of my way for a drive thru or put them in the Maclaren double stroller and take them inside with me.

Or, I run my errands while at work and therefore don't need to worry about the kids.

It's doable.

[caden]

Jun 21, 2012 11:16:06 GMT -5 runforrest said:

Jun 21, 2012 6:03:58 GMT -5 caden said:

Wait, you have twins and you still think this? How do(or did if your kids are older now) you get both kids into your house from the car in one trip?

Well, when they were in infant seats, we always had the double snap n' go thingy, so I would pull into the garage, get the snap n' go, put the infant seats in, and push them to the back door (we live in Chicago and have a detached garage).

By the time they outgrew their infant seats, I would just pick one up, put him on my right hip, go to the other side of teh car and get the other one out.

Now I do the same except I hold onto the one's hand while I'm getting the other one out.

Otherwise, I go out of my way for a drive thru or put them in the Maclaren double stroller and take them inside with me.

Or, I run my errands while at work and therefore don't need to worry about the kids.

It's doable.

I do that too when I'm out and about (rarely), or I use a stroller. But there's no way I'd do that in my own garage, for example, but then again my garage is attached. Our twins must have vastly different temperaments b/c neither one of my boys would just stand there and hold my hand while I get Kid 2 out. My garage has all the kids' outdoor toys in it. The second their feet hit the ground they're flying for the toys. So I have to take each 1 in individually and carry them in. Then again, it's probably has nothing to do with toys b/c they run for the tall grass in a parking lot too, which is why I almost always use a stroller/cart. I also leave my kids in the car for really small errands like putting library books in the return slot (walk-up, not drive-thru), or mailing a letter at a box you can't drive up to. There are just little things that come up like that so when I see "I'd never..." I just SMH b/c unfortunately it's something that is easier to do than people think. I'm glad your kids let you get around it though. Kudos for that.